Examining whether exposure to community water fluoridation across the life course relates to cognitive outcomes in childhood and later life, using two of Ireland's major longitudinal cohorts.
Community water fluoridation has been part of Ireland's public health infrastructure for decades, with a strong and consistent evidence base for its role in reducing dental decay. Far less is known about whether lifetime exposure to fluoridated water has any relationship with cognitive outcomes, in either direction, across childhood and into older age.
This programme uses two of Ireland's national longitudinal studies, Growing Up in Ireland and TILDA, to examine this question using population-representative data collected over many years, rather than a single cross-sectional snapshot.
[Edit this section with the specific aims, hypotheses and study design once finalised — keep the cohort and funder facts, replace the framing text.]
Ireland's national longitudinal study of children, following two cohorts of children and young people over time to track development, health and wellbeing.
The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, based at Trinity College Dublin, is a nationally representative study of the over-50s, tracking health, economic and social circumstances over time.
This research is funded by the Health Research Board (HRB), Ireland's lead agency supporting health research. [Add grant title and reference number here, e.g. HRB Grant No. XXX-2026.]
Data acknowledgement: [Insert the exact required citation wording from TILDA's and Growing Up in Ireland's data access agreements here — check their published guidance, the wording is usually mandated rather than optional.]